NEET OMR Sheet Tampering Allegations Need Credible Evidence, Rules Chhattisgarh HC - Video

The Chhattisgarh High Court has dismissed a petition filed by a NEET (UG) 2026 candidate who alleged that his Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) answer sheet had been tampered with, resulting in a sharp drop in his score. The petitioner claimed he expected to secure over 600 marks but was awarded only 200, alleging that several responses shown in the scanned OMR sheet differed from those he had marked during the examination. He sought production of the original OMR sheet and correction of his result. However, the National Testing Agency (NTA) argued that the candidate had not first used the prescribed grievance redressal mechanism before approaching the High Court, according to a Court Book report.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal held that serious allegations of tampering with official examination records cannot be accepted solely on the basis of personal comparison or suspicion without credible supporting evidence. The Court observed that the petitioner relied only on his own assessment and failed to demonstrate arbitrariness, illegality or procedural irregularity in the evaluation process. It also noted that the candidate had bypassed the available grievance mechanism before filing the writ petition. Accordingly, the High Court declined to order production of the original OMR sheet or re-evaluation and dismissed the petition.